It’s rare for us to get to work on a new construction project. San Francisco can be a very tough place to create a new building. Our client came to us with the need for a home for his large, multi-generational family. When it's completed, 4 generations of family members will live here together. 

 

This project includes demolition of a 1-story single family home, construction of a new 4-story building with 2 units, and plans for a future third unit if the owner opts to eliminate the garage at any point. The site is deep in the Mission District on a narrow alleyway. The fourth story is set quite far back with a pitched roof sloping away from the street to reduce the bulk of the building, and maintain natural light access to the narrow street.

 

This is a very small site. We had to dramatically increase the setback at the rear, but also at the front, so the footprint of our building was reduced substantially from the current home. We love a challenge like this, it forces us to be very creative. In the end we created a showpiece of a home perfectly suited to our clients needs.

 

To achieve their project goals, we leveraged our expertise of the code and increased the fire protections of the building. That allowed us to eliminate a second corridor to the rear yard, maximizing the ground floor square footage and creating 2 large units for this multi-generational family. 

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This project is approved by all City Departments, but the client has opted to wait for the time being to begin construction.